THE GRAPES OF WRATH
April 14, 2014, marked 75 years since The Grapes of Wrath was
first published. This novel, written by John Steinbeck, tells the
story of the Joad family. They are poor farmers from Sallisaw,
Oklahoma, who are forced to leave their home during a difficult
time called the Dust Bowl. Like many others, they travel west to
California, hoping to find jobs and a better life in the Salinas
Valley.
Steinbeck's novel won many awards, including the National Book
Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and helped him win the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1962. Through the Joad family's journey, the novel
shows the pain and struggle of a major moment in American
history, during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, when
many families were trying to survive and find hope in the West.
What was the Dust Bowl?
To understand the Joad family’s story, we must understand the
Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl was a disaster caused by both nature
and people. In the 1930s, huge dust storms happened in the Great
Plains of the United States because of a long drought (no rain)
and poor farming methods.
Professor Chad Kauffman says that it wasn’t just the drought that
caused the Dust Bowl. People made it worse by using the land the
wrong way. Farmers removed the natural tall grasses that had
deep roots. These roots had kept the soil in place. Once the grass
was gone, the soil became loose and dry, and the strong winds
blew it away, creating dust storms.
These farming mistakes, along with the economic problems of the
Great Depression, caused many families to lose everything. Since
they couldn’t earn money through farming anymore, many had no
choice but to leave their homes and travel west along Route 66 to
California, hoping to find work and a better future.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Steinbeck was an American writer born in California in 1902.
He saw how poor farmers and workers suffered during the Great
Depression. He cared about their problems and wanted to write
about their real struggles. In The Grapes of Wrath, he tells the
story of a poor family who loses their land and looks for a better
life. Because Steinbeck saw these things in real life, his writing
feels real and emotional. This makes the novel powerful and easy
to connect with.
SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL
The story begins when Tom Joad is released from prison, where he
had been sent for killing a man in self-defense. On his way home
to Sallisaw, Oklahoma, he meets Jim Casy, a former preacher
from his childhood. The two travel together to Tom’s family farm,
but when they arrive, they find it abandoned. They meet an old
neighbor, Muley Graves, who tells them that the bank took the
farm and that many families were forced to leave. Tom’s family is
at Uncle John’s house nearby.
The next day, Tom and Casy go to Uncle John’s house and find the
family packing up their belongings into a car turned into a truck.
The Joads’ crops were destroyed by the Dust Bowl, and they lost
their farm. The family decides to leave for California, where
they’ve heard there are jobs and good opportunities. Even though
Tom is on parole and leaving Oklahoma is risky, he decides to go
and invites Casy to join them.
As they travel west on Route 66, the Joads meet many other
people also heading to California. They hear mixed stories, with
some people returning from California saying that things aren't as
good as they were promised. Along the way, the family faces loss:
Grampa dies and they bury him, Granma dies near the California
state line, and two family members, Noah and Connie, leave the
group. But Ma Joad keeps the family moving, as they have
nothing left in Oklahoma.
When they arrive in California, they find that there are too many
workers and not enough jobs. The wages are very low, and people
are treated badly. The Joads end up in a migrant camp where
they meet other poor families. Casy, who is upset by the injustice,
starts organizing workers to fight for better pay. The Joads find
temporary work as pickers in a peach orchard. However, they are
paid very little, just enough for food. The next day, the pay is cut
in half. Casy leads a strike, but things turn violent. When Tom sees
Casy being killed, he kills the attacker in revenge and runs away
to avoid being caught.
Tom leaves to protect his family and vows to continue fighting for
the oppressed. The Joads move to a cotton farm, where they work
and save their money for food. Sadly, Rose of Sharon’s baby is
born dead. Ma Joad stays strong for the family through this
tragedy. Later, their home is flooded by rain, and they have to
move to higher ground.
In the final chapter, the family takes shelter in an old barn, where
they find a starving man and his son. Ma Joad realizes that the
only way to help him is for Rose of Sharon to breastfeed the man,
saving him from starvation.
Throughout the book, there are short scenes of a turtle trying to
cross a dusty road. Although this turtle’s story isn’t directly linked
to the Joads, it represents the persistence and struggle of the
people, like the Joads, who kept moving forward despite hardship
during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.
THEMES
In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck uses land to show how
important it is to the farmers' identity. The land gives them a
sense of who they are, their past, and their future. When they lose
their land, they lose a part of themselves. Steinbeck describes the
land as having a soul, and working on it gives farmers wisdom
and understanding. But when machines like tractors and distant
landowners take over, the farmers’ connection to the land is
broken. This idea is linked to American romanticism, which sees
hard work on the land as a way to gain independence and
meaning in life, a belief shared by Steinbeck’s friend, Ed Ricketts.
The rise of industrialization in the early 20th century changed
American life. Many people moved from farms to cities for factory
work. In agriculture, machinery replaced manual labor, and many
farmers were pushed off their land. In the novel, this is seen when
the Joad family faces difficulties after a drought. The banks,
shown as heartless, take away the farmers’ land. Steinbeck
compares industrialization to a rough, uncaring force that
replaces the farmer’s loving connection to the land.
When the Joads move to California, they face a different kind of
struggle. Although the weather is not as bad as in Oklahoma,
industrial farming in California means only a few people own land,
while others are left jobless. The idea of the hardworking farmer is
challenged because the new landowners have no emotional
connection to the land—they see it as a way to make money.
The Grapes of Wrath can also be seen as a novel about workers
and social change. It shows how the migrants in California are
treated unfairly, with the landowners paying them low wages
while controlling the work supply. Tom Joad, inspired by Casy’s
message of unity, decides to fight for workers' rights. In the end,
the Joads learn the importance of community and solidarity
among people facing the same struggles, while still chasing the
American Dream.
